Feb 27, Colombo: Sri Lanka's Department of Census and Statistics has begun the pre-processing of data of the nationwide census conducted to assess the human and property damages occurred during the nearly three-decade long war.

According to the Census and Statistics Department, the first stage of the data processing involves checking the completeness of coverage of the information collected by all the Grama Niladhari Divisions and that all completed forms have been received.

In the second stage, the summaries prepared by the enumerators in the field will be checked with the data collection form and sent for data processing.

The third stage consists of a detailed checking procedure during which the internal consistency of the data will be verified. The final report will be released once the Census Department processes this data.
The report of the census is expected to be released next month just ahead of the challenging United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) session in Geneva and the data are expected to be used to counter the challenges.

The Census Department launched the island wide survey on November 28, 2013. The island‐wide census collected detailed information on the deaths, missing persons, injured and/or disabled persons, and damages to the property.

The census covered the he conflict period from 1983 up to the end of war in May 2009.

The Task Force which is appointed for the implementation of the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) recommendations has prepared a National Action Plan which has recommended conducting a professionally designed household survey covering all affected families in all parts of the island to ascertain firsthand the scale and circumstances of death and injury to civilians, as well as damage to property during the period of the conflict.

The responsibility of conducting the census and producing the report is with the Ministry of Public Administration and Home Affairs, and the Census Department.